Arts and Entertainment

Omaha Theater Company's 'How I Became a Pirate' sets sail Feb. 24

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Best-selling author Melinda Long’s swashbuckling treasure hunt "How I Became a Pirate" comes to the stage in an Omaha Theater Company musical production for children at 2 p.m. Feb. 24, in Penn State’s Eisenhower Auditorium.

Tickets for the Center for the Performing Arts presentation are $15 for an adult, $8 for a University Park student and $15 for those 18 and younger. Tickets are available online at www.cpa.psu.edu or by phone at 814-863-0255 or 800-ARTS-TIX. Tickets are also available at four State College locations: Eisenhower Auditorium (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays), Penn State Downtown Theatre Center (9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays), HUB-Robeson Center Information Desk (11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays) and Bryce Jordan Center (10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays). A grant from the University Park Allocation Committee makes Penn State student prices possible.

Spellbinding storytelling, irresistible songs and bold choreography combine to tell the tale of young Jeremy Jacob and his encounter with Captain Braid Beard. The story brims with adventure as the lad embarks on a quest for buried treasure and learns about pirate customs.

“One of the things that pirates represent for kids is a life free from care, a life of giddy abandon, where you can do whatever you want,” said the show’s director Rob Urbinati. “I want 'Pirate' to have that kind of exuberance, and that’s what I want the audience — both children and adults — to experience.”

Award-winning composers, lyricists and playwrights Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman adapted the book for the stage.

One of the oldest, largest and most respected children’s theatrical organizations in the United States, Omaha Theater Company was founded in 1949.

McQuaide Blasko Endowment is sponsoring the presentation. MAJIC 99 is the media sponsor. Audio description, which is especially helpful to patrons with sight loss, is available for this performance at no extra charge to ticket holders. Kids Connections, which is free for ticket holders and includes a craft-centered, child-friendly activity, will take place in Eisenhower one hour before the show. Discovery Space of Central Pennsylvania will provide a pirate activity to spark creativity, curiosity and imagination. Due to space and time restrictions, Kids Connections participation is limited.

Photos of "How I Became A Pirate" for media use are available to download at http://cpa.psu.edu/internal/presslibrary.html.

Find the Center for the Performing Arts on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pscpa.

'How I Became a Pirate' comes to the stage at 2 p.m. Feb. 24. Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

Last Updated February 7, 2013